Behaviour of the stiff and sensitive Saint-Jean-Vianney clay in intact, destructured, and remoulded conditions

The role of the degree of microstructure on the behaviour of clayey soils has been the focus of many studies. However, none so far have quantified the evolution of the shear strength parameters for a given soil for degrees of microstructure going from an intact condition to complete remoulding. In the present study, a series of compression triaxial tests have been performed on specimens of the naturally highly structured Saint-Jean-Vianney clay under the following conditions: intact, destructured by straining outside the limit state curve, and reconstituted and reconsolidated after complete remoulding. The results show that the limit state curve is influenced by the level of destructuration reached before testing, and moreover, that the shear strength parameters at large deformation are influenced by the level of destructuration at the beginning of the test. The compression tests infer that the soil seems to retain the memory of its initial microstructure, at least for consolidation volumetric strains up to 14%. The observed behaviour has implications for the understanding and modelling of natural clays; it also explains to some extent the difference in strength parameters used in stability analyses of embankments on soft clays and natural slopes in clay.